Canada’s two most populous provinces continue to lag behind most of the country when it comes to small business-friendly tax systems, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Nova Scotia also makes the bottom three.
CFIB’s report puts Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick at the top three spots. The report examines how the provinces stack up against one another by examining 53 indicators in five major areas of tax policy: premiums and payroll taxes; sales and excise taxes; corporate income taxes; personal income taxes; and property taxes.
“A complicated and costly tax system burdens small business owners, and is a barrier to economic growth and job creation,” says report author Marvin Cruz. “The Index is meant to give jurisdictions a sense of how small business-friendly their tax systems are.”
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“Small business owners consistently tell us that complicated, costly tax systems are the biggest obstacle to growth,” adds CFIB president Dan Kelly. “Yet as we celebrate small business month, some governments are contemplating new taxes for infrastructure, prescription drugs or recycling and many finance ministers are pushing for a hike to the grand-daddy of payroll taxes – CPP/QPP premiums.”
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The provinces received the following scores on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is worst and 10 is best:
| Province | 2013 Rank | 2013 Index Score | 2009 Rank |
| Alberta | 1 | 8.53 | 1 |
| Saskatchewan | 2 | 7.01 | 3 |
| New Brunswick | 3 | 6.98 | 2 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 4 | 6.17 | 6 |
| Prince Edward Island | 5 | 5.90 | 7 |
| Manitoba | 6 | 5.67 | 5 |
| British Columbia | 7 | 5.65 | 4 |
| Ontario | 8 | 5.59 | 9 |
| Nova Scotia | 9 | 5.22 | 8 |
| Quebec | 10 | 3.97 | 10 |